Sketch/flash
in the pan

: : My kids are home
from college at the moment. They say that the word 'sketch' is in use among their
friends there as an adjective. So far as I can tell, it means 'questionable; may
even prove unsavory upon further examination.' I asked for examples of the word's
use. They gave me these:
: : "We drove up to a hostel in Chicago. It was pretty
sketch," one said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "It looked run-down. We weren't
even sure we wanted to check it out." Another:
: : "An Internet friend can
be sketch."
: :
: : Is anyone familiar with this term? On a slightly different
tack, could this be an example of a "flash in the pan," which, as I understand
the phrase, refers to something or someone that only momentarily basks in popularity
before it fades into obscurity?

: Flash in the pan in its strictest usage means
innefective or nonproductive. It derives from the early days of firearms - specifically
flintlock muskets. These guns used a piece of flint to strick sparks on a steel
plate called a frizen. These sparks fell into a small pan of fine gunpowder that
was quickly ignited and enough fire was supposed to pas through a small touchhole
at the base of the gunbarrel to ignite the main charge. If the touchhole was clogged,
only the powder in the pan would ignite, giving a bright flash and lots of smoke
- but nothing else.

: Our forbears used several other phrases derived from firearms
- "lock, stock and barrel" meaning everything, because these were the three main
parts of early guns, the lock being the firing mechanism and the stock being the
wooden frame that held the lock and the barrel. Another common phrase was "keep
your powder dry" referring not only to one's main stock of gunpowder, but also
the charge in the pan of a loaded firearm. If this was damp, it might go off with
a flash in the pan, but not actually fire the gun.

: Bonus aside - we also hear
from the world of fishing with another phrase meaning everything thats needs no
explanation: He fell for it "hook, line ans sinker".

Thank you. Very interesting
and a wonderful example of how phrases have something to teach us as well as add
color to the language.